


Heart and Soul

by Supersinger9000



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dad Henry, Gen, Henry saves Bendy, Poor Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:34:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28803615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Supersinger9000/pseuds/Supersinger9000
Summary: Henry's been through the loop hundreds of times by now, so many times that he is no longer afraid of the Ink Demon. This confounds and confuses said demon. After all, he's the monster, right? But then, how come he can't bring himself to hurt this man?
Relationships: "Bendy" | Ink Bendy & Henry Stein
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	Heart and Soul

Bendy hated humans. That was a well known fact within the studio. He hated humans and any ink creatures that used to be human. So, all of them, basically. So when a new human entered the studio Bendy wanted him  _ gone.  _ Humans had already taken so much from him, locked him up, tortured him, he wasn’t about to let this one take anything else. He’d thought he’d pulled it off at first, as soon as the human had seen him he had ran for the exit. That was usually how it worked whenever humans snuck in here. They would pretend to be brave, sneaking into an abandoned animation studio that had rumors of dark, cultish activity, but one look at the ink demon would send them running for the hills. This one was no different. But right as he was about to reach the door the floorboards gave way and the human fell, trapping him further inside the studio. Great. He was going to have to try a more….permanent way of getting rid of him then. That usually didn’t bother him, but there was a nagging feeling about this human that he just couldn’t shake. Ever since he saw his face, he felt like he knew him somehow. Bendy tried to shake it off, if he did know him, then he must have been one of the ones who hurt him. All the more reason this human should die. But the feeling didn’t go away. He had chased him throughout the majority of the studio, coming close to ending him a few times. But something inside him wouldn’t allow him to do it. He had no idea why. The human was destroying his cutouts with that axe of his, so clearly he wouldn’t hesitate to do him harm, but he just couldn’t do the same with him. He even found himself protecting this human at times. He hated this feeling, it made him weak, vulnerable. Sooner or later this man would try to end him, he was sure of it, and he would realize that the Ink Demon didn’t want to hurt him. He needed to get past this strange feeling so he could strike back. Or better yet, strike first. 

His worst fear seemed to come true when he found this man entering his lair. How dare he?! Just waltz into his home and take his things?! He was going to regret that. He ran towards his lair, intending to finally end this man once and for all, but he was thrown off once he got there. He was standing face to face with the human and he didn’t even flinch. It was almost as if he was expecting him. This confused Bendy greatly.  _ Everyone _ was afraid of him. It was the one rule around here,  _ “Beware the Ink Demon”.  _ He had always ran from him before, what was different? Bendy roared angrily and transformed into his beast form, surely this would terrify the human. But his expression didn’t change, he almost seemed….bored? Was that possible? This enraged the demon as he roared again and raised his hand to strike the human. But before he could, the human spoke. 

“Oh Ben..” Bendy stopped in his tracks, tilting his head quizzically. No one had ever called him that before. Heck, most people didn’t even call him Bendy. It was always “the ink demon” or “the monster” or “my lord” if you were Sammy. Not Bendy, and especially not an affectionate sounding shortening of it. It always served as a reminder to him that he wasn’t the real Bendy, not in their eyes. So why would this man call him that? “What has Joey done to you?” The man continued. He growled at the mention of Joey Drew, the liar, the traitor. The man mistook this for hostility towards him and backed away. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you,” he told him. Bendy was skeptical. He’d heard that line before. Joey said the same thing before he locked him up. He wasn’t falling for that again. He eyed the “the end” reel warily. He knew what that was, he knew what it could do, and this person having it was bad. He needed to get it out of his hands no matter what. So why was he still just standing there? Somehow the stranger could tell what he was looking at despite his eyes being obscured. “Oh, this? Don’t worry, I’m not going to use this again.” Again? What was he talking about? If he had used it on him before wouldn’t he be dead by now? “It never helps anyway.” Bendy was thoroughly confused now. Doubly so when the stranger tossed the reel on the ground and kicked it away. What was he doing? Why would he toss away such a powerful thing? Was this a trap? It felt like a trap. He had to have something up his sleeve if he was going to get rid of a weapon like that. The stranger cautiously walked closer to him.

“You remember me, don’t you? It’s me, Henry.” Henry? That name was familiar to him, but he didn’t know why. “I’m your….” Henry paused as he tried to think of a good word for what he was to him. “....your creator.” His creator? But he thought that Joey was….suddenly memories came flooding back to him. Henry….he was the one who first animated him, they worked on his first cartoon together, he really  _ was  _ his creator. And he had tried to kill him. He tried to kill him so many times.  _ So what?”  _ He told himself.  _ This doesn’t change anything. He’s still a human, just like all the others. You want to believe he’s different, but it’s all an act, don’t you see! Sure he’s acting like he cares now, but he still ran from you, he still sees you as a monster. It’s a ploy to take you off your guard and stab you in the back. As your creator he’s partially responsible for your fate! He doesn’t care, he’s never cared! He’s just like all the others!  _ Bendy let out a roar in Henry’s face and Henry backed away a little more, but he still didn’t leave. 

“I know you're angry with me.” Henry continued. “And I get why. If I had known that Joey would do all this I would’ve….Well, I don’t know what I would’ve done, but I never would’ve let this happen.” Bendy roared at him again, but this time Henry could’ve sworn that he heard a word come from his guttural growl. It sounded like he was saying “Liar!” He thought back to the saying he saw plastered all over the walls. “The creator lied to us.” Joey must have fed him so many lies in however many years he existed. No wonder he didn’t trust him. 

“I’m not lying, Bendy.” Henry told him. “I don’t know what Joey did to you, or what lies he’s fed you all these years, but I care about you. I know I left, but that had nothing to do with you. I tried to get the rights to you, to your character, but Joey wouldn’t let me. And eventually I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I left. But I promise, I had no idea that Joey would bring you to life, or that you’ve been alone all these years.” Bendy tried to process this. Could he be telling the truth? Did he really care about him? No one ever had before. But if that was true, why did he run?

Henry started to tear up, for a part of his speech he saw a glimpse of the old devil darling he used to draw come out of the Ink Demon. He didn’t realize how much he missed that devil until now. Sure, working for Joey was hell, but he had always had a soft spot for his little creation. The joy he felt drawing his cartoons was the main reason he stuck around the studio as long as he did, as well as the joy he brought to the people watching. Now look at him, alone, unloved, it was almost too much for his heart to take. Henry came closer to the Ink Demon and embraced him, fully aware this could get him killed but no longer caring. Bendy, for his part, didn’t try to attack, as he was completely confused as to what was going on. 

“I love you Ben.” Henry said sincerely. “I know you haven’t heard those words in a long time, if ever, but I’m saying them now. You’re not the monster that Joey thinks you are. I know deep down you’re still the little devil darling I used to draw. Please, come back to me Bendy.” A strange new feeling welled up inside the Ink Demon and ink began to flow from his face. Was he crying? He hadn’t done that in a while, not since he was locked in chains. But this felt different, he wasn’t sad, not exactly, yet tears came gushing down anyways.

Suddenly he felt a burning sensation in his heart and he pulled away from Henry, confusing the man. The burning spread and ink started falling off of him in chunks. Henry looked concerned and rushed toward his side, trying to help but not knowing what to do. He gave a halfhearted hiss toward his creator but he knew deep down that it wasn’t his fault, that he didn’t want to hurt him. Finally the burning stopped. He looked up at his creator, who now seemed a lot taller than usual, who now had a shocked look on his face. 

“Bendy…?” He asked, in a bewildered tone.

“Yes?” Bendy answered, before realizing what he just did and covering his hands over his mouth in shock. He could speak now? How did that happen? He slowly took his hands off his mouth and studied them. It looked like he was wearing white gloves with two black dots in the center, like in the posters. But if they looked like that, did that mean….? Bendy curiously pat down the rest of his body. His head seemed to be rounder, his bowtie was straight, his limp was missing and he was much smaller now. He looked like Bendy he saw on the cutouts, except for the addition of a spaded tail that he had never seen before. But how? How was this possible? 

Henry was staring at him as he inspected his body, also in shock. Bendy was on model, except for two things. He had a little devil’s tail now and he was lacking his trademark grin, instead having a little black mouth that didn’t look as forced. In fact, he looked just like the concept art that Henry had drawn up when he was first creating him. But how? This has certainly never happened before. It had to be his doing. He had certainly done a few things differently this round, but what had caused the change? Well, it had started when he said “I love you”, that had to have done something. Maybe when Thomas said that he was “soulless”, he didn’t mean it literally. Maybe he just needed someone to care about him, someone to love him. The Ink Demon had been made by Joey Drew to bring in a profit, he had been created by greed. But that had never been Henry’s goal. He had created simply because he loved to create, and that love is what changed Bendy. With that realization, he knelt down next to the panicked demon and tried to comfort him. 

“Henry, what’s going on? What happened to me?” Bendy asked, still freaking out. 

“It looks like you’re on model, buddy.” Henry said, rubbing the dip between his horns affectionately. 

“But how? How is this possible?” 

“Well, I did always say that I put my heart and soul into my work.” Henry said. Bendy’s eyes widened as it clicked. Henry had given him a soul. Presumably a part of his own. Tears welled up in his eyes as gratitude and guilt swept through him in waves. He was thankful that Henry had given him a soul, but once he received it the weight of his prior actions had hit him all at once. How could he have been so callous? So evil? Inky tears fell down his cheeks as he clung to Henry’s chest. 

“I’m so sorry Henry! I can’t believe I tried to kill you! I don’t know what I was thinking! I…..”

“Hey, hey it’s ok.” Henry told him. “You weren’t yourself, I understand that.”

“That...That doesn’t make it right.” Bendy said. He had started to calm down some, relieved that Henry didn’t hate him, but he was still upset. 

“Maybe not, you can’t change the past. All you can do is try to move forward. Besides, Joey is the one to blame here, not you.” Bendy nodded, he still didn’t quite believe Henry, he still felt that he deserved at least some of the blame. But like Henry said, he couldn’t change the past. He just had to try and be better in the future. 

“So, what do you say we get out of this place, huh?” Henry said. Bendy nodded again. That sounded nice. Though he wasn’t sure if Henry meant out of the lair or out of the studio. He hoped it was the latter. He had never been outside, and he had often wondered what it was like. Henry picked Bendy up so he could cross the ink moat safely. He wasn’t sure if he would dissolve in the ink, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Boy would he have a lot of explaining to do to Tom and Alice. 

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been wanting to do my own take on "Henry saving/befriending the Ink Demon" for a while now. I got the idea after reading Dreams Come to Life and I came to the part where Buddy's grandpa said "Anger inspire. Hate destroy. Love fix." I thought that if love could fix his paintings, maybe it could fix Bendy too. Though I will admit that I took some inspiration from other fics and comics that use this premise.


End file.
